I have mineral rights in sec.14 16N 06W. Chaparral filed application to establish horizontal drilling and spacing units in may 2016. We were listed as respondents., at the time as known and unknown heirs of my mother’s estate. Since then the will has been probated and the final decree and list of heirs and addresses are filed in Kingfisher clerk of court. However, I just discovered that chaparral has filed an application for pooling and a notice of hearing filed July 21st. On July 29th an affidavit of mailing was filed. This time we were not listed as a respondent known or unknown to my mother’s estate or our names since the will has been probated. The hearing is this Tuesday, August 16th. What should I do? Do I have any options? I was under the impression that if we were in the application for spacing then we would be listed in the pooling. The said mineral rights are currently not leased. I am totally confused and assumed I would be approached to sign a lease. I sure would appreciate any advice into this matter. Thanks!!
I would take copies of all affidavits and attend the meeting. Tomorrow, I would send all copies to Chaparral and also their attorneys certified return receipt. Make sure they are postmarked tomorrow.
If you could get an attorney or good CPL by Tuesday to represent you that would be a great. If not, represent yourself.
I still would send the certified letters postmarked tomorrow.
I may not be correct, but at this late stage anything is better than nothing. I hope a more knowledgeable person will correct me if my method is insufficient.
Also, you should post this on the County Forum.
I would never pretend to be more knowledgable than Tom Ed Moore but I can strongly reinforce his comments on the necessity to officially inform Chaparral and the hearing officer of the probate decree and the record of filing of the decree in Kingfisher. ( Job 1.) Keep the Return Receipt as proof of notification of the names of the "known and Unknown heirs" Chaparral is not obligated to find you at this point. You must tell them that you exist.
Job 2. As a family courtesy, let the beneficiaries in the probate decree know what is going on. Especially the person who has been getting the prior notices of mailings and pooling. If any notices are not accurate, object in writing to the hearing officer and Chaparral.
If Jobs 1 and 2 are successful, the lease offers and offers to buy will flow in. You may wish you didn't file.
Job 3. decide for yourself if you want to lease or sell or hold out for the options you will have in a pooling order.
Keeping in mind that if you don't make an election within the time prescribed by the Pooling Order if any, a selection will be made for you that least benefits you and most benefits the operator.
Bottomline. If you don't tell the powers to be that you exist, they can't offer you the options to proceed.
Gary L Hutchinson
Minerals Managment
Thank you so much for your advice! I may have found a new wrinkle but am not sure. I reviewed the original lease that was originally drawn up in 1965. Homestead oil was the operator and drilled a well but it was plugged and abandoned 4/1/1967. Can the company still hold the lease on this section? Can they tie you into another well in a different section and pay you royalty from that well in order to hold onto the lease? The copy I have is very difficult to read, but it looks like they stated that they could tie into another section if it was adjacent. This transferred to dominion and then it looks like they were bought out by Linn. I found a division order contract for another section that we do not have mineral rights in that is also owned by Linn. This section is not adjacent but is in the same county. I also looked on the oklahoma tax commission website and looked at production unit details. It shows plug date and also shows operator info and qualifying tax rate. Does that mean it is currently leased? We have only had a couple of offers to sell rights. I was surprised that we did not have any lease offers but maybe this explains why? As a side note I contacted Chaparral on 7/29 and left a message for Bailey Benham the name listed on the application for spacing. On August 6th I mailed both Bailey Benham and the lawyer representing Chaparral informing them of the final decree being filed and the names and addresses of the heirs, requesting that any and all future court documents be mailed to each heir. The only reason I found out about the pooling order was that I checked the weekly docket and saw my legal description and a different cd# for the pooling order. The application that we received in May for tthe spacing unit had a different number And that is what I would periodically check to see if anything else was being filed. Again I appreciate any help with this situation.
Thank you for your advice I have been working on my mother’s estate for about 5 years! Please see the reply I sent to Mr. Moore. Is it possible that I am still tied into the lease even though the well was plugged and abandoned? I truly thought my last hurdle was getting the will probated and the final decree filed. I still plan to send the documents to chaparral tomorrow. Will each of the heirs have to do this separately or can I do it for them? My brother has already sold his rights there are three of us who still have mineral rights in this section. I have been the contact person who has tried to keep family informed. I have gained valuable info through this forum and the Kingfisher County group. But at times this has been a tedious process. My family is in Ohio, my great, great aunt is the one who had this property. I appreciate any further advice you may have in this matter.